Baking Challah

To best incorporate the ingredients, a heavy-duty mixer or bread machine makes quick work of mixing the dough. Like all enriched doughs--sweet rolls, brioche, and other recipes containing eggs, butter, or dairy products--challah takes time and patience. The yeast needs a long time to develop in order to leaven the heavy mixture. Don't rush the rising process.

After the dough has doubled in bulk, deflate the dough and divide it into equal portions for braiding. Portion it according to your recipe: three strands for a single braided loaf, six if your recipe makes two loaves. Shape the portions into rounds and let them rest for about 10 minutes for easier rolling; cover rounds with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.

• Roll the three dough rounds into ropes. If the dough starts to tear, stop and let it rest for a few minutes before proceeding.
• Pinch the three ends together to seal, and braid; be gentle, and don't pull the dough strands too tightly or stretch them.
• When you've finished, pinch the ends together to seal. Tuck ends under the loaf to hide the seam.
• Let rise on parchment-lined baking sheets, covered with plastic wrap, until doubled in bulk.
• To test if the loaf's ready to bake, flour your index and middle fingers, and gently poke the sides of your loaf. The indentations should remain; if the dough springs back, it needs to rise more.
• Brush with egg wash and top with seeds, if desired.

Bake according to recipe instructions, until deep mahogany colored.

Beautiful four-, five-, and six-strand braids make impressively complex loaves, but require a high amount of skill from the baker. A similar effect can be achieved by stacking one small three-strand braid atop a larger one before letting the dough rise.

Rosh Hashanah: Round

The round loaf made for Rosh Hashanah is the simplest to make of all of the High Holy Days challah shapes. If you are using a standard 2-loaf challah recipe, divide the dough into two equal portions and shape into rounds.

• Roll each portion into a long 18x2-inch "rope." Taper one end of each rope so one end is thick, the other thin.
• Place the thicker end of a rope in the center of a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet and coil the rest of the dough around the center.
• When the length of dough runs out, tuck the thinner end underneath the coil and pinch to seal.
• Repeat with the remaining length of dough. Proof, egg wash, and bake as directed.

Yom Kippur: Ladder or Hand

Ladder

For a standard 2-loaf challah recipe, begin by dividing the dough into two equal portions. Decide how many rungs you would like the ladder to have; for a three-rung ladder, divide each dough round into two large balls and three smaller ones.

• Form the larger portions into two long ropes and lay them parallel to each other on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Roll remaining dough into short rungs. Pinch the rungs to the sides of the ladder to seal.
• Repeat with remaining dough.
• Proof, egg wash, and bake as directed.

Hand

Separate the dough into two portions: one portion will be used to form the palm of the hand (this portion of dough should be a little smaller than the other), and the other portion will form the thumb and fingers. Form the smaller "palm" portion of dough into a neat round and place it in the center of a greased baking sheet. Roll each of the remaining dough pieces into finger and thumb shapes. Arrange the shapes around the mound, pinching them into place.